-The Hindu The combined power of the mobile phone, the Internet and the social media was on display in the crisis that led to thousands of people from the northeast fleeing Bangalore. What became clear was that rumour-mongers did not belong exclusively to either the northeast or the Muslim community. There were also other groups who may have helped fan the panic. In mid-July this year, a Pakistani news portal, columnpk.com, carried...

-Tehelka Are we eating sugar which small kids are producing as bonded labour? FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD Mahendra Singh used to live with his parents and two siblings in the Jahangirpuri slum area of New Delhi until the morning he was abducted, trafficked and then callously ‘sold’ to a sugarcane farmer of Haryana’s Karnal district. Mahendra was made to work as a bonded labourer in the sugarcane fields for three-and-a-half long years, until he finally...

-The Times of India In a move that has angered the health ministry, the Planning Commission has asked for reversal of the long-standing public health policy from the 12th plan onwards ending governments' dominant role in providing health services and transiting to greater privatization of the health sector, something along the lines of the 'managed care' system which is followed in the US and Mexico. The health ministry has taken a tough...

-Live Mint In urban India, the ratio of the top and bottom 10% of the economic group increased to 10.9% from 10.1% Economic growth is increasing the income and consumption levels of the average Indian faster than before, but income disparity is getting sharper, especially in the country’s villages, which may require a greater effort aimed at creating jobs in the non-farm sector in rural areas. The increase in inequality is evident from...

-The Telegraph The Centre today told the Supreme Court that neither the courts nor the Election Commission can de-recognise political parties for calling bandhs that result in large-scale destruction of public property. The Centre quoted a 2002 judgment delivered after the Congress had moved Kerala High Court against the CPI for frequently calling bandhs — complete shutdowns, which are illegal — under the ruse of calling hartals, which are optional. According to...